The inhibiting factors that principal investigators experience in leading publicly funded research

Securing public funding to conduct research and leading it by being a principal investigator (PI) is seen as significant career development step. Such a role brings professional prestige but also new responsibilities beyond research leadership to research management. If public funding brings financial and infrastructure support, little is understood about the inhibiting factors that publicly funded PIs face given the research autonomy offered by publicly funded research. Our study finds that there are three key PI inhibiting factors (1) political and environmental, (2) institutional and (3) project based. Traditional knowledge, skills and technical know-how of publicly funded PIs are insufficient to deal with the increasing managerial demands and expectations i.e. growing external bureaucracy of public funding agencies. Public funding is no longer the 'freest form of support' as suggested by Chubin and Hackett (Peerless science: peer review and US science policy. Suny Press, New York, 1990) and the inhibiting factors experienced by publicly funded PIs limits their research autonomy. We also argue that PIs have little influence in overcoming these inhibiting factors despite their central role in conducting publicly funded research

Healthcare Professionals Promotion of Physical Activity with Older Adults:A Survey of Knowledge and Routine Practice

Healthcare professionals have a key role in promoting physical activity, particularly among populations at greatest risk of poor health due to physical inactivity. This research aimed to develop our understanding of healthcare professionals knowledge, decision making and routine practice of physical activity promotion with older adults. A cross-sectional survey was conducted with practicing healthcare professionals in general practice, physiotherapy, occupational therapy and nursing in Ireland and Northern Ireland. We received 347 eligible responses, with 70.3% of all respondents agreeing that discussing physical activity is their job and 30.0% agreeing that they have received suitable training to initiate conversations with patients about physical activity. Awareness of the content and objectives of national guidelines for physical activity varied considerably across the health professions surveyed. Less than a third of respondents had a clear plan on how to initiate discussions about physical activity in routine practice with older adults. Assessment of physical activity was not routine, neither was signposting to physical activity supports. Considering the COVID-19 pandemic and its implications, 81.6% of all respondents agreed that healthcare professionals can play an increased role in promoting physical activity to older adults as part of routine practice. Appropriate education, training and access to resources are essential for supporting healthcare professionals promotion of physical activity in routine practice. Effective physical activity promotion in healthcare settings has the potential for health benefits at a population level, particularly in older adult populations

Value Creation in the Quadruple Helix: A Micro Level Conceptual Model of Principal Investigators as Value Creators

Conceptual models of the quadruple helix have largely taken a macro perspective. While these macro perspectives have motivated debates and studies, they fall short in understanding value creation activities at the micro level of the quadruple helix. The purpose of this paper is to address this deficit by focusing on the fundamental research question how value is collectively created, captured, and enhanced at the micro level of the quadruple helix. Drawing on theoretical considerations centred on simmelian ties, boundary work and value postures (motives, creation, destruction, and drivers), we develop a micro level conceptual model of principal investigators (PIs) as value creators in the quadruple helix. Scientists in the PI role engage in boundary spanning activities with other quadruple helix actors. This engagement builds strong simmelian ties with these actors and enables PIs to develop collective value motives by bridging diverse knowledge and creating common value motives. Our conceptual model extends our understanding of the quadruple helix at the micro level and highlights the importance of PIs having strong simmelian in order to realise collective and individual value motives. The paper concludes with some suggestions for future avenues of research on this important topic

Publicly funded principal investigators allocation of time for public sector entrepreneurship activities

In this paper we explore the allocation of time of publicly funded principal investigators (PIs) for public sector entrepreneurship activities. We examine their allocation of time in general to research activities and specifically at a project level in relation to the type of research, knowledge transfer activity, project impact, deliberate technology transfer strategy and boundary spanning activities using data from a full population survey of publicly funded PIs in Ireland in science, engineering and technology across national and European research programmes. We find that PIs who spend more time on general research related activities allocated a higher proportion of time to technology transfer activities and that PIs who spend more time on technology activities engaged more in end of project reports and collaborative research with industry. In relation to the importance placed on impact criteria, PIs who spend more time on research placed more importance on technology and market impacts than those spending less time on research related activities. Furthermore, PIs who spend more time on technology transfer placed greater value on technology transfer, market and economic impact. We find projects of PIs spending more time on research related activities had a greater impact on technology transfer and a greater market impact, according to the assessment of respondents, than the projects of PIs spending less time on research activities. Finally, with respect to boundary spanning activities we find PIs spending more time on research engaged more in direct consultation with industry end-users and direct consultation with their technology transfer office at the pre-proposal stage of their selected project and they had significantly larger than average amount of industry partners. We conclude our analysis by considering the implications for public sector entrepreneurship

The association of resilience and physical activity in older adults: cross-sectional analyses from the NICOLA study

Aim: As more of the world’s population are living longer, supporting the mental and physical health of older adults is becoming increasingly important in public health. Resilience is a dynamic process encompassing positive adaptation in the face of adverse experiences that would otherwise lead to poor outcomes. The aim of the study is to explore the association between physical activity and resilience in older adults. Subject and methods: The data used in this study was taken from the results of the Self Completed Questionnaires and Computer Assisted Personal Interviews from the Northern Ireland Cohort for the Longitudinal Study of Ageing. A secondary analysis was conducted on a sample of 4040 participants to examine the association between resilience (Brief Resilience Scale) and on moderate/vigorous physical activity (International Physical Activity Questionnaire – Short Form) through chi-square and Mann–Whitney U tests and an ordinal regression being conducted. Results: Data was included for 4040 participants, of whom 90% did not meet the recommended moderate physical activity guidelines. The findings of this study indicated that higher resilience levels are associated with higher levels of moderate and vigorous physical activity levels. Conclusion: Worryingly, a large percentage of the older adult population are not sufficiently active and this is something that needs to be addressed. The findings suggest that with these low levels of physical activity, interventions should be created to target this population.</p